Usman Khawaja calls out ICC for allowing religious symbols on players' bats

Star Australian opener has called out the International Cricket Council (ICC) for their hypocrisy after they didn’t allow him to sport a black dove with an olive branch on his shoes for the upcoming Boxing Day Test against Pakistan beginning on Tuesday, December 26. Notably, Khawaja has been fighting with the apex cricket body to let him pay homage to lives lost in Gaza during an international game.

However, all his attempts have ended in futility as ICC doesn’t allow the players to sport any political, religious or racial message on the field in any manner. Hence, his recent request to sport the black dove emblem on his shoe and bat was also turned down by the cricket’s governing body.

Also Read: ICC denies Usman Khawaja's new 'human rights' attempt to don dove logo on his bat and shoes

To call out ICC for their hypocrisy, Khawaja uploaded a video on his Instagram handle sharing instances in the past where players sported religious symbols on their bat. The video contains West Indies batter Nicholas Pooran having the religious cross symbol on his bat, his teammate Marnus Labuschagne with an eagle and bible verse and South Africa all-rounder Keshav Maharaj with the 'Om' symbol.

Khawaja called out ICC’s double standards through the video and captioned it, “Merry Christmas everybody. Sometimes you just gotta laugh. Cya at Boxing Day! #inconsistent #doublestandards.”

Notably, the Australian batter had decided to sport the message “all lives are equal” and “freedom is a human right” on his shoes during the first Test against Pakistan in Perth. However, he wasn’t allowed to do so by the ICC and instead took the field with a black armband to pay homage to the children who lost their lives in Gaza.

Pat Cummins extends support to Khawaja

Khawaja’s black armband also didn’t go down well with the ICC again as he failed to take prior permission to wear that and hence was reprimanded by the governing body. Amid all the drama, he decided to ask prior permission to sport the black dove emblem on his bat and shoes but was once again denied.

Also Read: AUS vs PAK: Pat Cummins backs Usman Khawaja’s dove logo request

Meanwhile, Australian captain Pat Cummins has continuously extended support to Khawaja for his cause but also respects the laws of the ICC.